THE BRICKPICKER LEGO SET REVIEW/BLOG ARTICLE CONTEST IS HERE!!!

Jeff and I are proud to announce this contest for all registered BrickPicker members. It will be based on LEGO set reviews, Evalution Corner and Blog articles. We will judge the winners on several aspects, such as overall quantity, content and quality. We will take into consideration the quantity of reviews and articles you submit and the content and quality of those reviews/articles/blogs. Just because you pump out more reviews than other members, if your content and quality are subpar or very average, we can elect someone else the winner.

The basic BrickPicker Set Review will be accepted at 1000 characters. No less. Unlike the earlier Set Review version, you will be required to submit content for each of the 10 basic categories below:

First Impression(WOW Factor) & Introduction

An introduction and first impression of the LEGO set. Does the LEGO set "WOW" you? Is it or will it be an "iconic" LEGO set? When you see this set, you say to yourself, "I just have to have one!?

Unique Parts/Minifigures

Does the LEGO set have rare or unique minifigures? Are there rare parts/colors in the set? Does the set have a large amount of minifigures or parts that make it more desirable?

Playability/Build Experience

Does the set have elements that make it an extremely "fun" set to play with or to build, thus affecting it's popularity and future viability as an investment?

Value for money(new)

Is the set a bargain? Does the set give you a "bang for your buck" when considering piece to price ratio or is the price of the set extremely high priced for the amount of pieces included? This rating also plays into LEGO collectors/investors who like to "part out" LEGO sets to make money...Could the set be used to "part out for a profit"?

Theme Popularity

Is the LEGO set from a popular LEGO theme that sells well in the primary retail LEGO market and will most likely translate to positive growth in the secondary LEGO market?

Exclusivity

Is the set an "exclusive" set and is marked accordingly so? Is the set limited in production in any way? Is the set from a Toy Fair or Comic Con or other LEGO trade show that has limited production runs?

Packaging

Does the set have unique packaging that makes it stand out from the typical LEGO set? Does the set have special markings on the box that differentiate it from other LEGO sets?

Growth Potential

What is the potential growth of this set in the secondary LEGO market? Will this set appreciate or depreciate after being retired(EOL)?

Display Attributes

Does this set when built display well? Is it a topic of conversation when built and displayed in a office or den? Does it make for an impressive or unique set when compared with other LEGO set

Final Analysis & Conclusion

Your overall final impression of the set, taking into consideration all the above factors. A final synopsis or conclusion about the LEGO set. The numerical rating is for the entire set, with a 10 being the ?perfect? LEGO set, a 5-6 being about average and a 1 being the bottom of the barrel.

Each category can range from a sentence to several paragraphs if necessary. The combined total for all the category content needs to be 1000 characters to be accepted. You will be asked to leave a numerical 1 to 10 rank for each category as well, with 4,5 and 6 being considered "average" LEGO set rankings. You do not have to own a set to review one, but it would help and this will be noted on each review. Here is a sample of a REVIEW I did for the 10227 UCS B-Wing Starfighter. It is a 5000 character review and I would consider it an above average review. You can do more or less, but proper grammar and spelling is also important.

We will take a snapshot of the current review totals and start from there. A BrickPicker member can look over their personal reviews in our new REVIEW LOG. You will have the ability to resubmit an older review and improve it, with it counting towards the contest. Jeff and I will approve or disapprove each resubmission. What is neat about the new review system is that Jeff and I will be able to award BONUS BRICKPOINTS for above average and special reviews. A basic 1000 character review will be awarded 10 Brickpoints, but we can give up to 500 Brickpoints or more for some in depth and special reviews.

The contest will start immediately and conclude at 11:59 PM(Eastern Time) on July 3rd, 2013. There will be three main prizes:

1ST PLACE: 10228 HAUNTED HOUSE or $200 LEGO GIFT CARD

2ND PLACE: 10232 PALACE CINEMA or $150 LEGO GIFT CARD

3RD PLACE: 9516 JABBA'S PALACE or $100 LEGO GIFT CARD

We will adjust all prizes to the winner's country and situation. Jeff and I understand that some members have to pay more for LEGO sets and we will adapt to each situation. We have the right to change the prizes to equivalent LEGO sets if these become retired or out of stock.

There will also be four $25 LEGO GIFT CARDS given out to those exceptional reviews in which I can convert to content for the EVALUATION CORNER. One person can win them all. Look at my reviews for an example of what I am looking for. You do not have to go through the normal review processor if it is easier to produce a large and quality review and analysis on a word processor like OPEN OFFICE(which I use). If you are doing a "special" review, you can contact me. I can guide you. What I don't want is something I have to rewrite. It needs to be quality content and properly written. I can tweak it and help with data and charts, but the overall written content needs to be very, very good.

Depending on the response, we can throw in some other prizes along the way. Maybe some "Honorable Mentions" or some other prize for some review or content that tickles my fancy. This is a serious competition and Jeff and I want the content of the LEGO set reviews to become a very important part of our site. Unlike the quality reviews on top sites like Brickset or Eurobricks, I want our reviews to focus on aspects of LEGO sets that will affect its "investment" potential and value. You can discuss anything you want, but you should have a serious investment correlation in your reviews when discussing many of the categories. The basic categories are set up like an essay, with an introduction, body & content and then a conclusion. Think of the reviews in proper English class terms and you will do well.

That's about it. Good luck with your reviews and any questions can be posted below. Winners will be announced on July 4th, 2013. Thanks.

Ed Mack

EDIT: JEFF AND I WILL ALSO ACCEPT EVALUATION CORNER/BLOG ARTICLES TOWARDS THE CONTEST AS WELL!!!

He has a very creative title for it but I won't ruin it. ;-P One of my rare moments of creativity ;-P

The intrigue....

That's amazing, you are writing up three different articles, Grolim. Definately looking forward to the one on remakes as well.

1:12am. Commitment :)

1:12am. Commitment

I stayed up till 12:30 last night writing a review on the Striker Class. I wrote it from an investment standpoint so.... the score i gave it is really pathetic.

I'm relatively new to the site having only posted once, but I have been starting to upload sets I have into my Brickfolio and getting a better feel for how this site works. I am just trying to understand how I can go about writing reviews for sets that have not been previously reviewed? I've been trying to figure this out for half an hour now, so I figured this might be the appropriate thread to ask this question. Thanks, Steve

People have stopped writing reviews to do EC articles. I'm toasty toast... :(

People have stopped writing reviews to do EC articles. I'm toasty toast...

You're burnt toast and I'm chopped chicken liver. :grrr:

......Now I'm hungry all of a sudden.

You're burnt toast and I'm chopped chicken liver. :grrr:

......Now I'm hungry all of a sudden.

Be sure to save me the leftovers!! :)

Here

People have stopped writing reviews to do EC articles. I'm toasty toast...

All content is counted. It is a review contest...remember that. Reviews are huge now that Jeff has added the new review section to the Price/Set Guide page.

Can we have another review contest, but instead of you guys choosing the winners, we let the members vote for their favorite.

Ed said something about having a similiar event for the people that don't win the main contest.

I also love how my reviews are right there to draw in readers!! Can we have another review contest, but instead of you guys choosing the winners, we let the members vote for their favorite.

I think Ed said they are going to have a "people's choice" award. See link below.

http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3406/P165/#38729

I also love how my reviews are right there to draw in readers!! Can we have another review contest, but instead of you guys choosing the winners, we let the members vote for their favorite. I think Ed said they are going to have a "people's choice" award. See link below.

http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3406/P165/#38729

Yes, that is exactly what I was trying to refer to. Thanks for finding the original post, Quacs.

Here is what Ed said.

we will present the work of the remaining TOP 13 Reviewers to the BrickPicker community and everyone will get to vote on it. The original 3 winners will get their prizes and not be involved in this competition. It's like a another 3rd place prize. Maybe we will give away a B-Wing if we ever get them.

I also love how my reviews are right there to draw in readers!! Can we have another review contest, but instead of you guys choosing the winners, we let the members vote for their favorite.

I think Ed said they are going to have a "people's choice" award. See link below.

http://www.brickpicker.com/index.php/forums/viewthread/3406/P165/#38729

Hmmm..... interesting.

This whole "content contest" has provided us with some tremendous articles and reviews. While I cannot promise everyone winning a prize, what I can promise is that people who provide us with serious content will get something. The prizes can be added to very easily. There will be a "Member's Choice" award in addition to the TOP 3 and the HONORARY MENTION awards, but like I stated earlier, the "Member's Choice" award cannot be won by the TOP 3. As the contest continues, I will have a better feel for which members really earned a prize.

We have a long way to go and I cannot promise that all the content will be available to view before the contest ends. The EC articles and Blogs take some time to convert to HTML format and we need to get Brick Classifieds up and running. Also, some of these articles are excellent and we don't want to publish all at one time because they will get lost in the shuffle. What I can assure all of you is that Jeff and I will take all the content into consideration and will ask for honest opinions from the Mods on who the winners should be.

So don't stop producing reviews and articles, we still have a long way to go...

This whole "content contest" has provided us with some tremendous articles and reviews. While I cannot promise everyone winning a prize, what I can promise is that people who provide us with serious content will get something. The prizes can be added to very easily. There will be a "Member's Choice" award in addition to the TOP 3 and the HONORARY MENTION awards, but like I stated earlier, the "Member's Choice" award cannot be won by the TOP 3. As the contest continues, I will have a better feel for which members really earned a prize.

We have a long way to go and I cannot promise that all the content will be available to view before the contest ends. The EC articles and Blogs take some time to convert to HTML format and we need to get Brick Classifieds up and running. Also, some of these articles are excellent and we don't want to publish all at one time because they will get lost in the shuffle. What I can assure all of you is that Jeff and I will take all the content into consideration and will ask for honest opinions from the Mods on who the winners should be.

So don't stop producing reviews and articles, we still have a long way to go...

Is there a way we can write the articles in this HTML format so you don't have to change them?

On a somewhat unrelated note, when I tried to edit a review I'm working on there are these < p > things everywhere... is this a problem?

I'm relatively new to the site having only posted once, but I have been starting to upload sets I have into my Brickfolio and getting a better feel for how this site works. I am just trying to understand how I can go about writing reviews for sets that have not been previously reviewed? I've been trying to figure this out for half an hour now, so I figured this might be the appropriate thread to ask this question. Thanks, Steve

Hi Steve, welcome to Brick Picker! It looks like your question may have gotten lost in the shuffle, so I'll take a stab and answering it.

To submit a review for consideration, you look the set up in the Price Guide, then go down the page to the section called "SET RATING AND MEMBER REVIEWS". There is a link there to the form you need to fill out. The form has several sections, and instructions to guide you as to what kind of information they're looking for. It's probably also a good idea to read several recent reviews to get a feel for it. The format was changed recently, so make sure you look at reviews that have been written in the last couple of weeks.

I hope that helps!

Man, FCB is killin it with those EC articles!! I'm in the process of moving right now so my contribution has slowed down a lot...but I do have one or two I'm working on ;)

Man, FCB is killin it with those EC articles!! I'm in the process of moving right now so my contribution has slowed down a lot...but I do have one or two I'm working on

That comes from someone who has more than double my number of reviews lol ;)

That comes from someone who has more than double my number of reviews lol

STOP IT BOTH OF YOU, YOURE MAKING ME FEEL INADEQUATE!

lol my family is trying to cut down mah computer time so this past 4 day weekend brought... nothing.

Even if I did a review a day I wouldn't be able to catch up to you mikeur86...

Ed or Jeff, Would it be possible to add a "******/A" option to the "Exclusivity" tab in the review section. I find myself just rating a 5 most of the time when a set isn't exclusive but that really hurts the overall score when this doesn't apply. So then I started changing it to the average score of the rest of the sections. For example, if I am rating all the other sections as 7-9 I will rate Exclusivity as an 8. But it would be better to just have a ******/A option so its not counted. Of course, I realize that this may take a lot of work to change and if that is the case then feel free to laugh at my post and I'll go cry in the corner :-P

After the contest is over, will you still be handing out ten BP per thousand characters in reviews? I'm probably the only person who will keep doing them, and I'm in it for the BP as much as the prizes!

After the contest is over, will you still be handing out ten BP per thousand characters in reviews? I'm probably the only person who will keep doing them, and I'm in it for the BP as much as the prizes!

They probably will continue to hand out ten BP per 1000 characters as after the contest has ended people will need extra incentive to continue writing reviews.

Here

Ed or Jeff,

Would it be possible to add a "N/A" option to the "Exclusivity" tab in the review section. I find myself just rating a 5 most of the time when a set isn't exclusive but that really hurts the overall score when this doesn't apply. So then I started changing it to the average score of the rest of the sections. For example, if I am rating all the other sections as 7-9 I will rate Exclusivity as an 8. But it would be better to just have a N/A option so its not counted.

Of course, I realize that this may take a lot of work to change and if that is the case then feel free to laugh at my post and I'll go cry in the corner :-P

But it does apply. An average LEGO set and category should get a 4, 5, or 6 rating. There is no perfect LEGO set, with maybe the exception of the 10179. Most LEGO sets should not rank and 8, 9 or 10. A 6 or 7 is a solid LEGO set IMO.

Love Grolim's title for the remakes article LOL